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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Almost three years ago to the day, I gave my CC9 speech at my then home club Nairobi Toastmasters on the need to set up a new toastmasters club. It's been my great privilege since then to see dozens of enthusiastic men and women come together and form what is without a doubt the best club in Kenya - Early Birds Toastmasters. Recently one of our members at Early Birds who flew back to San Francisco where he's domiciled told me that Early Birds also beats hands down the three clubs he visited in San Francisco. I am excited at how far we've come and I look forward to another three years of being part of the born ready leaders at Early Birds Toastmasters.

Enjoy the speech below

Early Birds

How many can tell me what the first toastmasters promise is?

Fellow toastmasters and guests, today I’d like to present
you with an opportunity. An opportunity that helps you achieve that first
promise, but can also result in so much more. My friends - both old and new -
today I want to ask for your support in the creation of a new toastmasters
club, The Nairobi Early Birds Toastmasters Club, that will meet once a month at
6:45 in the morning. You can support the new club by attending its meetings,
becoming a sponsor, a member, inviting guests or participating in the soon to
be held demonstration meeting.

I want to take the next few minutes telling you why we need
this club, how it will benefit us individually, and what we need to do to make
it a reality.

We currently have four chartered clubs in Nairobi and at
least four more in the foundational stages, so the question is why do we need
another one? The Early Birds Club is needed because unlike all these other
clubs, which meet at lunchtime, in the afternoon, or in the evening this one
will meet in the morning.

One of the major challenges facing toastmaster clubs is the members’
sheer inability to make it for meetings on time. This could be because of
demanding schedules, heavy traffic, or evening classes. Equally needing redress
is the problem that when all we do in toastmasters is give speeches or take
roles, we risk relegating Toastmasters to just another item on our daily to-do
list instead of the life changing experience it can be.

Your support today can help overcome these challenges, by
creating a club that meets early in the morning.

When I look at some of your faces, I can almost read your
minds thinking: “but 6:45 AM is too early?”

Is there really any benefit to holding a club meeting starting
so early in the morning and is there anything for you to be gained by
supporting such an early morning club? I don’t want to brush off this concern
simply by talking about worms. Instead I want you to recall throughout your
lives and career what you have done when you wanted to achieve success?

When in school, did you get up before the rooster crowed to
prepare for your lessons ultimately resulting in you performing well in your
exams? At work, did you get to the office earlier than everyone, being more
productive and catching the eye of your boss when it came to promotions? In
your business, did you make use of the quite of the morning to strategize,
helping you deliver greater revenues and reduced costs?

So when it comes to transformative change through the
benefits of toastmasters, is 6:45 once a month really too early?

But the benefits of morning meeting are overrated, no one
will come they retort.

On the contrary: your supply of willpower is greatest in the
morning, when you are fresh from sleep and harbor no negative experiences or
thoughts. As James Karundu can attest this time has been found by clubs such as
Business Network International to be the most opportune for achieving the
greatest productivity. One productive hour in the morning can transform your
entire day.

Another benefit is the relatively lighter traffic and
calendar at this time of the day makes it easy to get to the meeting and enjoy
it without disruption – ensuring crisper and more fruitful sessions.

What other reason does one have to come? CEOs and senior
managers will be naturally attracted to meetings held during the least busy
part of their day and this is a plus if you’ve been trying to get their
attention. The friendly social atmosphere that is prevalent in toastmasters
gives you a great chance to meet with them and build strong rapport.

“But I’m just too busy, I can’t spare the time” is something
else you expect to hear.

Well according to research by the Times magazine, 1 in 4 of
us spends 30 hours in a year just glancing at our phone to see if there’s
anything new. All Early Birds asks for is 12 hours in a year.

Whether or not you can attend the morning meetings and
whether or not you can become a member, your support for the creation of this
club will change someone’s life for the better, and that will be a legacy you
can forever be proud of as a toastmaster.

If you do not support the formation and development of the
Early Birds Club, we risk losing an opportunity to make a real difference
through toastmasters; but if you do you shall be a pioneer of a club that
epitomizes success comprising the go-getters of society and business. A club
that radiates energy and optimism and imbues in them a positive buzz that lasts
the whole day and contributes to their achievements.

Are you still trying to figure out what is first toastmasters
promise? Let me conclude with my personal story and why I believe the Early
Birds Club can help you, me and future toastmasters keep the promise: the
promise to attend meetings regularly.

The year I joined toastmasters, 2008 was one of the worst
years of my life. A combination of factors had led to my business nearly
collapsing; the post-election violence had personally affected me, and my life
held little meaning beyond eating, working, and sleeping.

In late 2008 when I attended my first toastmasters meetings,
it was the catalyst that began my transformation. At every meeting my
self-confidence got a boost, I met a new friend, and my life became more
meaningful. Regrettably because of problems stated before, I was not able to
attend meetings regularly, and I felt an almost physical loss each time, being
away from what had become a second home.

Toastmasters is much more than a place to improve your
communication skills. Toastmasters can be the place you meet your future
spouse, interview for your perfect job, or achieve your life’s mission. By
giving everyone a chance to attend productive meetings, despite their time
challenges we can put meaning in others’ lives.

Today, I am making this speech, not simply to meet the
objectives of this project, but I want you to give you the chance to make a
difference. To do this you can commit your support to Early Birds Club through
your signature on this document. I am pleased to say that my organization has
committed to giving meeting space for the first 6 months, so the ball is
already rolling. Sign up to support Early Birds Nairobi
Toastmasters Club, fulfill your toastmaster promise, and change lives starting
today.

Monday, May 04, 2015

Another matatu has overlapped and cut her off just as she was to join the highway. Driving into town from Ngara is still a nightmare, despite a spanking new superhighway. Rainne wonders if her naivety in being polite to other road users is a magnet for this menace.

Rainne has been in traffic now for over an hour and has hardly moved ten metres, giving way to dozens of other vehicles but not getting any reciprocation. She wriggles her bare toes, driving shoeless in these conditions is more comfortable. She takes comfort in that small luxury. The lotion she applied on her feet earlier is keeping them nice and cool.

The conductor of the matatu swings wildly from the door as it narrowly misses Rainne’s front bumper.

“Siste, huku ni Nairobi, jikakamue”!

She glares at him and he returns a lewd look, seemingly excited at the fact that he’s unnerved her.

She’s tired of this. No more Ms. Nice Girl, she also needs to get moving.

The car blocking her entry moves a few feet a head and she sees her chance, she guns the engine and her car spurts forward.

It happens so fast.

Rainne’s vision had been blocked by a hawker selling dusters. The minibus had also seen its chance and had come hurtling forward. Its driver saw Rainne at the last minute and veered sharply to the right to avoid hitting her. A Nissan matatu behind the minibus is not as lucky, he was trying to whizz past too.

There is a sickening crash, as metal, glass, flesh and bone collide crumpling the front end of the Nissan against the minibus.

It’s happening barely two metres from Rainne’s car. A blood curdling cry comes from the front of the Nissan. A passenger is trapped, his legs shattered at impact.

More passengers pour out of the Nissan. Bloodied, their clothes shredded, their expressions of shock, but alive.

Rainne is wrenched out of her shock, by another piercing cry.

She grabs her first aid box and jumps out to help. Good Samaritans are trying to assist. They yank and claw at the crumpled metal with their bare hands.

Rainne is fumbling through the kit for her epinephrine pen – a life saver in such situations.

It’s in her hand as she yanks open the driver’s door who tumbles out onto her crashing her to the ground. He’s taking off, running from the scene, using his slight build and long legs to maximum effect. As Rainne struggles to get up when she realizes the driver’s jacket snagged her epinephrine pen. The pen is stuck on his jacket as he runs toward the flyover hoping to make a quick getaway.

Hell No. Rainne is not going to let him get away with the injured passenger’s only hope of not bleeding to death.

She sprints after him, yelling “Shika huyo”

It works and other road users from the opposite side start chasing him.

The driver runs to the edge of the flyover and looks down. It’s about twenty feet, he is desperate, it’s better than being lynched.

He is climbing over the guard rail when Rainne tackles him sending both of them over the rail. At the last second she grabs the pen with one hand and the rail with the other. The driver grabs the only thing he can, Rainne’s bare foot.

Rainne feels like every muscle in her arm is tearing. Her weight and that of the driver are too much. Her hands start slipping, she considers dropping the pen and using both hands to hold up.

Below, oblivious, cars speed past. If she falls it’s over, but her arm is on fire.

She’s just about to let go when two pairs of hand grab each of hers. As she’s hoisted up the driver holding her from below can no longer keep his grip. His hands slide down Rainne’s lotioned feet and he lets out a scream as he falls backwards towards the road.

Rainne is carefully set down and catches her breath. The pen is still tightly gripped in her left hand. She can’t wait, she breaks into a small jog towards the Nissan. An innocent passenger life is at stake.

-------------------------------------------------

Later that evening Rainne is visiting her new friend, Njogu at his bedside. The nurses told Rainne that her epinephrine pen saved Njogu’s life. They also said that quick action saved his legs. It will take weeks but he will walk again. Njogu’s wife who had been called from work after the accident tells Rainne that amazingly the errant driver fell into a garbage truck below, and the rotten squishy garbage broke his fall. He will be arraigned in court tomorrow for reckless driving. The police have promised not to let him shower until then.

Friday, August 15, 2014

The following is a tip session delivered by John Kageche, ACB, CL and current President of Nairobi Toastmasters Club. It focuses on the need to properly prepare and present the 2nd, 3rd and 4th projects in the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual towards building strong speech delivery.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

In 1785, Robert Burns penned that famous Scots poem with the penultimate stanza which read:

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane / But mouse you are not alone
In proving foresight may be vain: / Planning for future can be in vainThe best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / The best laid plans of mice and men
Gang aft agley, / Often go awryAn' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, / And leave us with nothing grief and pain
For promis'd joy! / For promised joy

Putting down a plan on paper is great. It helps crystallize your goals and
gives you a defined target to aspire to. It's just as true though that no
project plan can expected to be perfectly executed and "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry"

In every project expect challenges. The most common are the notorious three:
scope creep, time constraints, and resource constraints. To ground myself in
reality, I will outline all the pitfalls I expect in this journey so that I may
also adequately prepare for them.

1. Scope Creep
I am very attune to certain personality flaw of myself: what I call
"the Idea Junkie Syndrrome" which I compare the Plant in Belbin's
Team Role Theory. Belbin says of the Plant “This is that person who will come
up with new solutions midway into implementing an agreed on plan which results
in disrupting the implementation process of the plan.” Scope creep
meanwhile means casually adding tasks and roles to an existing plan. While
these are being added, they seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things
but in reality they end up consuming vast yet scarce resources to complete.

With my Idea Junkie Syndrome, I find myself continuously excited by new,
ever more ambitious, ever more elaborate ideas despite the first idea I started
out with being quite adequate. For example, I will decide to undertake the CL in
10 months; then I will realize that I can do the same with my ACB, shortly
thereafter I will read about banner raids and determine it’s a great way to encourage
commitment and attendance; then I will think we have two few meetings and
propose weekly meetings, then I will notice that we need to improve on our
evaluations so I will start conducting Successful Club Series sessions every
week, then I will…

Idea Junkie Syndrome is real, and while each idea on its own might deserve
merit – continuously adding them to your plan results in targets not being met,
burnout and frustration. Cognizant of this flaw, I committed to involving my
mentor in my toastmasters’ decisions. This meant that I needed to justify every
step and I had wise counsel to temper my over-exuberance. This would help me
focus on my CL goals which remained my central and most important objective as
per my plan.

2. Time Constraints

To complete both the CL and the ACB I had to complete 29 roles: 21 for the
CL and 8 speeches for the ACB. This translated to preparing for and attending
at least 29 meetings with the majority being regular toastmaster meetings. The
first challenge was how much time each role required to prepare. If I was to do
it properly, I would need 147 hours as calculated below, which translated to
about 15 hours a month. Assuming I had a maximum of 2 hours a day to allocate
to Toastmasters, this meant a whole week of preparation for my roles. In
addition, I had the ACB speeches which would need an extra 5 hours each per
month for preparation.

Project

CL
Roles

Preparatory
Hours

Listening

Speech
Evaluator

1

Ah-Counter

1

Grammarian

1

Critical
Thinking

Speech
Evaluator

1

General
Evaluator

3

Giving
Feedback

Speech
Evaluator

1

Grammarian

1

General
Evaluator

3

Time
Management

Timer

1

Topicmaster

2

Planning
and Implementation

Speaker

5

General
Evaluator

3

Toastmaster

8

Organization
& Delegation

Help
Organize a Club Speech Contest

10

Facilitation

Topicmaster

2

Befriend
a guest

1

Motivation

Toastmaster

10

General
Evaluator

3

Chair
of Membership Contest

40

Mentoring

Guidance
Committee of High Performance Leadership

10

Team
Building

Chair
a Club Special Event

40

TOTAL
HOURS

147

The second challenge was getting the opportunity to undertake 29 roles or 25
if you count only the meeting roles. We remain with a maximum 21 meetings until
the close of the Toastmasters year, and it would be hardly sufficient or fair
to expect to perform these roles at those meetings.

The solution would therefore need to be two fold. Allocate predicable and sufficient
time towards Toastmasters preparations in my calendar and utilize the
opportunity to take up roles in the other clubs in Kenya as well as doing
speeches outside the club setting.

I resolved to prepare for both my speech and my roles at least three weeks
in advance where possible and book for slots in other clubs with similar notice
period. To book for meeting roles in other clubs I would ask my Vice President of
Education (VPE) for assistance. I would carefully read and re-read the
objectives of every role in my Competent Leadership manual and reflect on it
with regard to my own work environment that it may make more meaning to me. This
would also help me apply the lessons I would learn more immediately for
practical benefit. Such preparation in advance would avoid a last minute rush
which would inevitably be inefficient use of my time.

3. Resource Constraints
Sure Toastmasters doesn’t cost much but one still needs to be ready to
invest to reap the rewards. My first challenge was that I didn’t have a CL
manual. I had made the order from World Headquarters but the manuals were yet
to arrive. So far I had made do with borrowing someone’s manuals to read the
objectives and prepare but this wouldn’t work for long. With my first role
confirmed for 19th of August, Iwould need to get my manual so that I could carry it and have it
evaluated.

Attending a minimum of four meetings a month would also be a requirement if
I had to achieve the goals I had set out for myself.

"An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!"

Planning is great, but too much planning to accomplish one's goals might have the opposite effect and leave us burnt out and frustrated. Consider then how we should emulate the "living for the moment" mouse which is the inspiration of the poem in Burns' final stanza

"Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me! / Still you (mouse) are blessed compared to meThe present only toucheth thee / Only the present affects youBut och! I backward cast my e'e / But alas, I cast my eye in the pastOn prospects drear / On drear prospectsAn' forward, tho' I canna see / And to the future though I cannot seeI guess an' fear." / I foretell bad things and fear it.

As much as I need to plan for days ahead and keep in mind what has brought me to this stage so far, I must enjoy the present. Have fun in the present and be unburdened by worry that my plans might not come to fruition.